The Hero & The Demon

Chapter Twenty

Kage Sekai had always loved this moment in the original story, but he had no idea how it was supposed to look in real life.

All-Might was a figure who always had this incredible aura about him. The manga described him as having been drawn differently, and despite no longer existing in only a drawn format, Kage figured could sort of see what they meant. He was statue-esque at times, a work of art in and of himself. A monument to incredible power and unyielding optimism.

As he sat at his desk in class, he eagerly awaited seeing that incredible visage act in as dramatic and yet as goofy a fashion as he remembered.

He was not disappointed.

"I AM…" A booming voice that echoed through the corridor outside positioned itself outside the classroom. Everyone in the room tensed in anticipation, knowing what was to come. Involuntarily, Kage found his fingers tapping against his desk.

"COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE AN ORDINARY PERSON!" The door was burst open with such sudden force that Kage was frankly baffled that it didn't leap off its hinges and into the wall. Entering was the pronounced muscular build of All-Might, now wearing a slightly different costume than before. His body was red and white, and he was wearing a cape. It seemed somewhat reminiscent of Superman to Kage, which seemed appropriate given the man's status. The entire class cheered for his arrival, and even Kage joined in.

"All-Might!"

"Is that his Silver Age costume? So retro!"

"He even looks drawn differently."

"I guess he does have a different vibe, if that's what you mean."

Kage wasn't sure what he meant, but he needed to know if that line made sense to anyone else. Reality no longer being drawn for him made it difficult to parse what aspects were supposed to stand out as unusual at times. Without close up shots or large two-page spreads, some things just didn't stick out the way they used to.

All-Might was whistling a tune to himself as he strode up to the podium at the front of the class. Kage didn't recognise it, but he wondered if Izuku might know it as the theme of some All-Might cartoon or something like that. The man looked towards everyone with a bright grin and posed in front of them.

"IT'S TIME FOR HERO BASIC TRAINING!" He declared, flexing his muscles as he spoke. "YOU'LL ALL BE PUT THROUGH ALL SORTS OF SPECIALISIED ACTIVITIES TO MOLD YOU INTO PROPER HEROES! STARTING WITH…" Kage once more tapped his desk, creating a drumroll effect.

"BATTLE TRAINING!" He mouthed, whilst All-Might announced it clearly for the rest of the class, complete with a card that had the word 'BATTLE' written upon it in bright red text. He glanced around the class to gauge their reactions. Largely excitement, though Sora and Izuku both looked noticeably nervous about it. Izuku made sense, but Kage had to admit to some surprise for Sora given that she had been expecting this like he was. He had to assume she was worried about how well she would be able to fight, but given her Quirk, Kage figured she could manage alright.

"BUT IF YOU ARE TO FIGHT LIKE HEROES, YOU SHOULD BE DRESSED LIKE HEROES!" All-Might said, thrusting his arm out and pressing a button on a remote. The result was four thin sections of the wall extruding themselves, each showing a sheet of glass that protected suitcases emblazoned with numbers upon them. One through twenty were all laid out before them all. The excitement of the room grew further.

Kage honestly had forgotten about his costume entirely. He knew he had sent in a design for one, but he had been largely zoned out and just going off instinct when he did so, and it was far from his priorities. Being a hero didn't mean he needed any sort of special clothes, and his powers let him create just about any gear he might require. Still, it was hard to deny the appeal of a good suit.

Presentation was what set apart a hero from a superhero, after all.

"AFTER YOU'VE ALL CHANGED, COME OUT IN RANKING ORDER AT GROUND BETA!" All-Might instructed. "I'LL MEET YOU ALL THERE!" With that, he sprinted out of the room at incredible speeds, leaving a trail of smoke as he made his exit. Only he and Izuku had any idea why he might be in such a rush, but it left an impression on everyone regardless.

"Now that's a good entrance." Sora said, standing up and going over to her costume. Kage and the rest of the class quickly followed suit, forming a small pile at the suitcases. "Then again, the main competition is Aizawa sliding around in a sleeping bag. Anything looks good after that."

"I liked the sleeping bag bit." Kage said with a smirk. "It's what I would do if I was a hero and could get away with it. It looked cozy." Sora rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Yeah, right." She said sarcastically. "Like you could ever lie down comfortably like that right before a class started. I'd bet a thousand yen that you'd be bursting out of that thing the second a bell rang and running off. If you weren't already here, that is."

"Ooh, tempting." Kage stroked his chin. "Maybe I'll bring a sleeping bag tomorrow and we'll see who wins that bet."

"You think you'll be able to relax tomorrow?" Sora said more quietly, looking away from him for a moment. Kage's expression softened. Somehow, he hadn't considered that Sora would be all that worried about the future events he had revealed to her. She was so good at helping him look past his own anxieties that he assumed she was as skilled at evading her own.

"It'll be fine." He said. "Trust me, we can handle it. Besides, even in a worst-case scenario, everyone walks out in one piece. They'll do even better if I can help it. Don't worry, we got this."

"Yeah." Sora said, nodding her head as though to reassure herself. "Yeah, we got this! Speaking of things we've got in the bag, time to try on these suits! Catch up at the training?" Kage nodded.

"Be right there." He pulled his own costume suitcase out. His was number thirteen, matching the ranking he had received in the fitness test. Sora's was nineteen, which was lower than Kage had expected it to be given how quick and nimble she was. Then again, from what he understood, she wasn't all that experienced in terms of hero training. Not everyone dedicated themselves to working out and training constantly as though the world depended on their abilities.

After all, for most people, that wasn't true. Kage was the exception.

With everyone's costumes received, the class all collectively moved towards the changing rooms. Everyone moved much more confidently and enthusiastically than they had during Aizawa's first lesson. There wasn't a single face in the group that wasn't displaying a smile of some sort. All-Might had brought out some joy in just about everyone, even the more naturally stoic individuals like Iida or Todoroki.

Once inside, Kage opened up his suitcase to find his costume within.

It seemed he had stuck to a fairly simple appearance at first glance. The design reminded him of the movie TRON Legacy, in that it was mostly black but covered in circuit-like lines that ran across the whole body. They seemed to be a pale white when in the suitcase, but as soon as Kage put the suit on, they glowed a golden yellow. It matched the look his eyes had whenever he activated his powers throughout his body. Kage wondered if it was made of some kind of material designed to mimic his abilities, though given that he barely understood his powers, he found the idea that a clothing designer he had never seen directly would be able to do so strange.

The lines on the arms and legs seemed to all connect to a set of two circles in the centre of the torso. Kage was surprised he hadn't gone for a more traditional chest logo, but he supposed this worked fine enough on its own. The two circles were a simple design choice that he actually recalled a reason for – like any good superhero outfit, it was a symbol for his new identity. In this instance, each circle represented a different world. The inner circle represented the world he currently occupied, whilst the larger, outer circle represented the original world he had come from. It was subtle, not the sort of thing that would be obvious to anyone else, but he was personally quite proud of the design.

As he put it on, he noticed that the negative space between the two circles briefly glowed red before returning to its usual black. He raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but it didn't seem to have any effect. It was entirely possible he had imagined it.

Around his face was a retractable helmet design, something he was surprised the costume department was able to produce in the way he had imagined it. In its default state, it was only really visible on the sides of his face, covering his chin and cheeks. It fit well when he briefly used his powers to construct a face-mask over the lower half his face. Almost instinctively, he found himself producing yellow sound lines that matched his breathing.

"Cool." He muttered, finding his constructed mask responding. It had never done that before, but he had the idea of it for some time. Once activated, the helmet would be capable of a similar display. Perhaps if his powers were truly sentient, they felt insecure.

The helmet itself produced a retractable one-way glass-like display – he had to assume that the material only looked like glass given its fluid ability to move. On the outside, it was mostly pitch black, but the push of a button at the back of his chin, just below his left ear, prompted a display to activate. It was simple enough – just two golden eye dots that could form different expressions to match his own facial movements. They exaggerated his own expressions into more vibrant ones, the intent being to make him look more friendly and approachable. He didn't want to constantly force on a bright smile like All-Might did, but he wanted his presence to be reassuring to those around him. Of course, the helmet also had access to more aggressive expressions. Pressing the button a second time switched it to what Kage dubbed 'angry mode', where even a neutral face would look intense and focused. He got the idea from Spider-Man's mask, and he was thrilled to see the effect in action.

He didn't intend to actually use the helmet all that much, especially not at the battle training. It was mostly just a cool aesthetic choice he had thrown into the costume at the last minute. For his first class, he would prefer just having his normal face on display. The mask would be saved for more properly dangerous situations. It would hide away any of his real fear or concern, allowing him to make a much better impression on opponents. He wasn't worried about that with classmates, but it was better to aim for something a little more intimidating for villains, or reassuring for civilians as the situation called for it.

A small and probably not all that bright part of him also hoped he could use the mask if he ever needed plausible deniability about future actions. It was possible he would have to stretch the legal means of action in the future, so concealing his face might make it easier to manage such things. He could always argue someone had stolen his costume or just had a similar look.

He was overall very pleased with the results of his costume. It seemed that despite not having paid much attention, he had produced a very cool design. Either that or the costume company UA used was exceptional at taking his sketchy doodles into something actually wearable.

He strode out of the changing room confidently and approached ground Beta, one of the many miniature cities that UA had access to. The entrance was a large stone doorway that also doubled as the exit on the way out. It protruded forwards from the rest of the large walls that guarded the area.

Kage hadn't had much time during the entrance exam to really appreciate the scale of what UA was able to accomplish with these areas, so he found himself less interested in his classmates' outfits – he was already very familiar with them all anyways, though they did look quite impressive in reality – and more so in the remarkable effort that had gone into this level of construction. At a glance, it genuinely looked like a real part of a city.

Frankly, Kage was almost surprised Aizawa didn't live in one of these. It would shorten the daily commute considerably.

"I wonder if rent is cheap here…" He half-joked to himself as his eyes wandered about. Once his initial curiosity was sated, he took another moment to properly appreciate all the costumes on display. Some of them looked like fairly ordinary clothes – Jiro and Kaminari, for instance, had clearly gone for comfort rather than style – whilst others, like Iida's, looked much more dramatic.

He noticed Todoroki's costume and frowned. The ice covering half of his body was already an unflattering look on its own, but knowing why he had made it that way made it all the more unpleasant to look at.

"THEY SAY THAT CLOTHES MAKETH THE MAN, AND YOU ALL STAND AS A TESTAMENT TO THAT WISDOM!" All-Might appraised everyone quickly. Well, almost everyone. As Kage remembered from the original material, Izuku emerged hastily a moment later. "FROM THIS MOMENT FORTH, YOU ALL STAND AS HEROES!" Kage wished he felt as confident as All-Might in the idea that their costumes meant they were prepared for what was to come. Nonetheless, he did concede that the outfits really brought everything together.

"Oh, Deku!" Kage turned and walked over to Uraraka, who had just noticed Izuku emerge. Izuku faced her and though Kage couldn't properly see his face, it was pretty clear that it had gone very red. Kage would be lying if he said a blush didn't appear on his own face for a moment when he saw her.

"Nice costume." She said. "I should've been more specific with mine. This suit's all puffy and curvy. It's a little embarrassing."

"Nah." Kage said with a smirk. "It suits you pretty well, I'd say. Izuku totally agrees, right buddy?" He playfully nudged Izuku, who looked between him and Uraraka with an expression of confused betrayal. He shot the smallest of glares to Kage before turning to Uraraka.

"Y-y-yeah!" He stammered out. He gave a shaky thumbs up, his words evidently failing to form properly in the moment. "It's a g-great look! Really nice!" Kage grinned. Someone needed to help his poor friend get better at talking to girls, and it was an easy enough thing for him to do. Even the smallest shift in his confidence could go a long way in the future.

Making sure everyone survived was one thing, but helping them to be happy sooner was arguably even more important. It was also an easier thing to manage.

"Deku's right." Sora approached at Uraraka's side and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's a great suit. Nothing embarrassing about it. Well, aside from the usual embarrassment that comes from walking around in spandex. But we're superheroes, that's part of the job!" She emphasised her point by pumping her fist into the air.

Sora's costume definitely had a more casual look to it than the others. She had a set of goggles that she wore just above her eyes, no doubt to help her deal with the wind when flying at high speeds. On her torso, she had a long-sleeved black shirt and fingerless gloves on her hands. She also had a light blue jacket over it that went down to her stomach. It was open, though it had a silver zipper to close it if she ever needed to.

She had a similarly silver belt that connected to a light blue skirt on her legs, as well as black leggings to match the shirt. The belt had several patches running across it, not unlike Batman's iconic utility belt. It even had a similar logo on the front, though instead of a black bat, it was a dark blue bird symbol that looked to be rising upwards. Her shoes were a greyish-blue sort of hiking boots that also seemed to make her just a tiny bit taller.

"Thanks, Sora." Uraraka said. "You've got a nice outfit yourself. It looks comfy!" Sora looked down at herself and frowned in response.

"Well, appearances can be deceiving." She replied. "Seriously, it's a lot tighter than it should be. Plus, I wanted pockets on the skirt! I guess the belt is fine, but it shouldn't have been that difficult an ask, you know?" She fiddled with her shirt as she spoke. Admittedly, it did look rather tight. Superhero outfits did tend to look that way unless they were armoured, or at least that was how Kage remembered them in most comics he had read. Usually, it was to show off muscles or other physical traits, but it did often seem like it wouldn't have been the most comfortable thing to wear all the time. Sure, it was flexible, but how big of an issue was that for heroes who weren't Spider-Man and didn't have to spend all their time acrobatically leaping around. Aizawa was able to make that work with just a shirt and baggy pants!

His own suit was hardly innocent of this, but it had a small layer of padding that helped make it feel more comfortable, as well as likely serving to insulate him from whatever electronics were involved in all its stylish visual effects. Sora's didn't seem to have that excuse.

"I like it!" Izuku added enthusiastically. "The overall look seems like it was inspired by the Wing Hero: Hawks, which fits you really well. The blue colour scheme also gives it an inviting aura and one that's appropriate for your name. The bird logo on the belt is also a really strong touch, a lot of heroes these days tend to go for a more broadly iconic look across the board instead of a single symbol, but the latter is an excellent choice for creating a recognisable brand." He seemed like he might have had more to say, but he stopped himself from going off on a longer ramble. He glanced over to Kage for a moment before narrowing his eyes.

"Kage's a big fan, too." He suddenly said, bumping Kage with his shoulder. Kage startled, glancing at his surprisingly teasing expression. Izuku had clearly learned from his sass.

He was so proud.

"I am?" He said. Sora blinked at him with wide eyes. Kage looked at the suit carefully again. He hadn't noticed before, but the goggles seemed to also be covering a headband that pushed her hair back. It seemed almost odd to see her mismatched green and yellow eyes. They looked nice. As did the whole attire, he decided.

"I am." He said more definitively, giving Sora a thumbs up. He felt his cheeks heat up a little, but he gave a smile nonetheless. "It suits you. I like it." Sora's face flushed for a moment, but she smiled at the praise.

"Thanks." She said. "Yours is neat too! I love the future-y vibe it's got going on. Although…" She paused for a moment, her eyes seeming to linger on the two circles at the torso. Kage raised an eyebrow and looked down. Nothing stood out as odd to him.

"The red is a little out of place."

"What red?" Uraraka asked before Kage could. There was a red glow when he first put the costume on, but he couldn't see it present anymore. Just the two circles, both of which glowed golden like the rest of the suit. After a moment, Sora shook her head.

"Nevermind." She said quietly. "My eyes must be playing tricks on me." She rubbed one hand over her gold left eye and blinked. She inspected the torso area of the suit once again, something that Kage wasn't sure whether to be flattered by or concerned about, before looking back up and grinning.

"Yeah, just a trick of the light. My bad!" She said, giving Kage a thumbs up. Kage didn't know how any part of his suit could look red in this light, but he was a little colourblind himself – or at least, he had been in his original body, and nothing looked any different now. He was probably missing something.

"NOW THAT YOU'VE ALL ASSEMBLED, IT'S TIME WE GET INTO TODAY'S TRAINING!" All-Might exclaimed. He took a look at Izuku's costume and covered a laugh. Even knowing what that was about, Kage couldn't help but cross his arms and frown at the man. So what if Izuku was obvious in his inspirations? That was a compliment, not something to mock.

"Sir!" Iida stuck his hand firmly upright in the air, and All-Might nodded to indicate he could speak. "This is one of the battlegrounds from the entrance exam. Will we once again be conducting cityscape manoeuvres?"

"NOT THIS TIME." All-Might shook his head. "YOU'RE MOVING ONTO STEP TWO! INDOOR ANTI-PERSONNEL BATTLE TRAINING! YOU SEE, WHILST OUR NEWS TENDS TO FOCUS ON THE FLASHY OUTDOOR FIGHTS, THE MOST DEVIOUS OF VILLAINS LURK INDOORS, USING THE PROTECTION OF OUR WALLS FOR THEIR DEADLY SCHEMES!"

"It's also where there are more accidents." Kage added quietly. Sora noticed, though everyone else seemed more focused on All-Might's speech. "Things like burning or collapsed buildings, floods, all that. It's weird that it can be more dangerous inside than outside."

"Speaking from experience?" Sora asked. Kage shrugged.

"Only a little. I saved a couple of people from a burning building once." He explained. He wondered if Riza and her mother were doing well now. He hadn't seen them since his first night in this world, so he had no idea if they were able to move back into their building or if they had to find a new place. Sora looked at him with wide eyes briefly, but whatever she was going to say was cut off by All-Might.

"YOU'LL NOW ALL BE SPLIT INTO TWO-ON-TWO HERO AND VILLAIN TEAMS, BEFORE FACING OFF ONE ANOTHER IN INDOOR BATTLES!" He announced.

"No basic training?" Asui asked. All-Might shook his head.

"EXPERIENCE IS A FAR BETTER TEACHER!" He declared. Kage glanced over to Sora, who looked noticeably more nervous after that. He supposed her Quirk wouldn't be very useful inside a building, and as far as he knew, she'd never really been in a fight.

"You'll be fine." He reassured her. "We got this, remember?" He raised a fist for her to bump. It took her a moment to notice, but she did so and relaxed just a little from the gesture.

"Yeah, we got this." She said, more to herself than to him. Several of their classmates raised their hands and began asking questions.

"What are the victory and failure conditions?"

"How badly can we hurt the other team?!"

"We're not going to get expelled like Aizawa said last time, right…?"

"Do we get to pick our teammates?" Sora asked that last question, though it got lost in a sea of similar series of them that All-Might was clearly struggling to deal with. It took Kage a moment to realise that she was speaking to him and not their teacher. He nodded towards him, since he knew the answers were about to be revealed anyway.

"PATIENCE, PLEASE!" He said, right on cue. "I WILL ANSWER EVERY QUESTION YOU HAVE. LET'S START BY GOING OVER THE BASICS." He pulled out and unfolded a small sheet of paper and began reading from it. With how big his hands were, it looked rather goofy.

"HERE'S THE SCENARIO – THE VILLAINS HAVE A NUCLEAR BOMB STASHED AWAY AT THEIR HIDEOUT. THE HEROES HAVE TO EITHER CAPTURE THE VILLAINS OR SECURE THE BOMB IN A LIMITED TIME, WHILST THE VILLAINS HAVE TO EITHER CAPTURE THE HEROES OR KEEP THE BOMB SAFE UNTIL TIME RUNS OUT."

"Nice and simple." Kage commented. "Like a comicbook plot. I think I've seen this set up in an issue of Justice League somewhere."

"What's a Justice League?" Sora asked. Kage tried not to feel hurt at the reminder that basically every piece of media he had ever known either didn't exist in this world or was at the very least woefully outdated.

"L-long story." He waved a hand dismissively. Sora paused for a moment before turning away.

"AS FOR YOUR TEAMS, I KNOW EXACTLY HOW WE'LL DECIDE THOSE!" He reached behind himself for a moment, during which Kage made a tiny construct of a drum set and tapped at it. Sora laughed, and Kage noticed a few amused smiles in his direction. "WE SHALL DRAW LOTS TO DECIDE!"

"Oh crap." Sora said to herself.

"Is that really the best way to decide?" Iida asked, and Sora visibly perked up at the question, looking gratefully between him and All-Might. Kage frowned uncomfortably as Izuku unintentionally dashed her hopes.

"Think about it! Pros don't usually get to decide who's on the scene during a crisis, so this simulates that perfectly!"

"I see. I apologise for my bold interruption!"

"NOT A PROBLEM!" All-Might gave a quick thumbs up gesture. "NOW, LET'S GET THIS STARTED!" One by one, everyone dutifully formed a line and walked over to the box. Kage didn't particularly care who he was paired with. He knew everyone's Quirks well from the original canon, and he was confident he could manage with just about anyone.

Even if she didn't seem to feel the same way, he was similarly confident about Sora's odds. She may not have been much of a fighter, but she certainly had the spirit for it, and he had no doubt that she would pick things up as they went.

He pulled out a ball from the box, which showed a large capital I on it. He held it up to show it off, and quickly his partner revealed himself – Mashirao Ojiro.

Kage grinned. The two of them had only met a handful of times at the Gunhead Gym, but they had a good sense of one another's capabilities from that. Such was bound to be useful in a situation like this. He walked over to him, only briefly glancing over to see Sora step up behind him.

She was going to ace this. Kage was sure of it.

Sora Kinzoku was going to utterly fail this training. She was sure of it.

Granted, her partner was probably going to be fine. Momo Yaoyorozu carried herself with a strong sense of confidence and assuredness about her situation. Sora didn't know what the limits of her ability were exactly, but she was sure she would be more useful than a girl who could fly would be indoors.

Sora didn't really know Yaoyorozu much at all, but she had more faith in her than she did herself.

"So…" She said, unsure of what she was supposed to say. "Nice costume." She settled on. Yaoyorozu's attire was…well, it certainly wasn't unpleasant to look at. Though just doing so almost felt improper given how much it left exposed. Even so, the bright red was a great look on her. It contrasted well with Sora's blue as well, which was nice. They had a fun sort of opposite look going on.

"Ah, thank you!" Yaoyorozu said with a smile. "I was a little worried when I first saw it, but it suits my needs perfectly. Yours is nice as well. It even goes with mine." She added. Sora blushed at the praise and looked down at her outfit. At least that much was in her favour.

"NOW THAT THE TEAMS HAVE BEEN DECIDED, LET'S FIND OUT OUR FIRST MATCH!" All-Might declared. He produced two more boxes – one labelled HERO and the other labelled VILLAIN, both in large blocky text. Sora didn't think it would be a good idea to say it aloud, but internally she was praying to not be up first.

Perhaps All-Might's hair tufts worked as antenna to pick up her thoughts, because he answered her desperation well.

"TEAM A WILL BE THE HEROES, AND TEAM D WILL BE THE VILLAINS!" She visibly relaxed, letting out a breath she didn't even realise she was holding. She looked around to see which teams those were. She winced when she realised.

Deku and Uraraka were up against Iida and Bakugou.

Kage had mentioned that Izuku and Bakugou specifically were going to fight during their conversation at the train station yesterday. He said there was no damage that Recovery Girl couldn't fix, but having seen Izuku's Quirk and knowing Bakugou's relentless fighting style, that wasn't particularly reassuring.

He hadn't said anything about Uraraka and Iida, so she had to assume that those two would come out of the fight just fine. Iida was pretty well armoured, after all, and Uraraka could stop him the second he tried to throw a punch or a kick at her. They also didn't seem to have any sort of intense personal dynamic with one another.

Meanwhile, Izuku was the protagonist of the story that Kage knew. That would make Bakugou the main rival, or possibly the future main villain depending on what tropes they were operating on. There was plenty of reason to worry there.

She decided to root for Team A's swift victory. She liked Iida, but Deku and Uraraka were both also her friends and Bakugou was decidedly not, so two-against-one weighed in their favour.

All-Might carefully guided the rest of the class into the basement of the main building that had been selected for the match. He told the others that he would be joining them momentarily to watch the match via cameras that were present all over the building. Sure enough, one of the walls was covered in several small screens that had been projected onto its surface, showing the layout of the building clearly. Iida and Bakugou entered shortly.

"You know this group well, right?" Yaoyorozu asked, briefly surprising Sora. "I noticed you and Kage talking with Iida, Uraraka and Midoriya yesterday. Are you friends?"

"I guess." Sora shrugged. "I've known Kage since the entrance exam, but I only just met the others yesterday. They're pretty cool. N-not to say that you aren't cool, or anything. I think we're all pretty cool people, you know?" She hoped Yaoyorozu knew, because she wasn't really sure what she was talking about. Her partner gave a gentle smile.

"Thank you." She said. "I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable here, I was simply curious if you had any insight into their chances in the match." Sora quickly and frantically shook her head as she noticed Yaoyorozu's confidence drop ever so slightly.

"No, no, you're fine!" She insisted. "Sorry, I guess I'm just nervous about this training stuff. It's not really something I'm good at. Kinda feels like I'll just be dragging you down, if anything. As for this fight? Hard to say, really. I've only ever seen Bakugou in a fight once. He's good. Annoyingly good, given his attitude." The villain team had arrived at the bomb at this point. Iida tapped a hand against it, though if there was any noise, it didn't come through on the cameras. It seemed they had visuals, but no audio.

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Yaoyorozu said encouragingly. "To be honest, I'm not exactly much of a fighter either. I've always thought my Quirk would be more useful for rescue work, so that's where I spent most of my time preparing. I'm sure we can both make our limited skills work to our advantage."

"If you say so." Sora muttered. She was reassured by Yaoyorozu to some extent, but the part she was missing was that Sora also lacked a lot of the usual physical training of her classmates in general. Growing her muscles and exercising had always been hard for her. She tended to get tired faster than most people, so lengthy training wasn't suited for her. Combine that with her no doubt limited effectiveness with her Quirk, and she was pretty much all but useless.

Frankly, she was that way compared to everyone else even outdoors. She had only managed to surpass Deku during the fitness test thanks to her wings at a couple of the events. On a basic physical level, she was worse than he was.

Everyone else in their class had spent their lives preparing for this. Sora had joined the hero course on a whim and wasn't entirely sure of what she really wanted out of it. Helping people would be nice, but being able to fly as she pleased was as far as her ambition went.

Was that enough? Was it worth how much she would be holding the people around her back? She was bound to be a liability, at least for the time being.

She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts. It didn't matter. She was here now, and she intended to make the most of it. Her classmates were capable, cool people. They could manage well enough even with her presence as the weakest link.

Besides, she knew there were greater things to be concerned about. Things that only she would be able to help with. It scared her, but in a strange way, she was also comforted to know she stood as potential barrier against a bad future.

She glanced over in Kage's direction. He seemed focused on the screens, though he turned slightly a few times to address his partner. The other boy had a tail, and that was all Sora really knew about him. His outfit was a plain enough looking martial arts uniform, the only distinguishing feature being what looked like a patch of fur on one shoulder. It looked simple, but efficient. Sora could respect that.

All-Might rejoined the rest of the class and stood at the front. Sora found herself involuntarily straightening as he did so, preparing herself for things to get moving.

"THAT'S THE TEAMS PREPARED. EVERYONE, PAY CLOSE ATTENTION AND YOU MIGHT JUST LEARN SOMETHING!" He said. Sora nodded. Maybe she would be able to pick up on how her classmates fought and replicate that to some extent in her own battle.

"HERO TEAM, BEGIN!"

Things progressed slowly at first. Izuku and Uraraka managed to slip in through a window on the fourth floor, skipping past most of the building thanks to her floating ability. If Sora ended up as the hero in her battle, she supposed she could manage something like that. Scouting things out was within her capabilities at the very least.

She looked over to where the bomb was located, somewhere on the fifth floor. She expected to see Iida moving around whilst Bakugou stayed at the bomb. Instead, it was the reverse – Iida had clearly elected to stay with the bomb whilst Bakugou had ran off. She looked around, hoping to find him on the cameras.

She caught up with him at the same time he found Izuku and Uraraka. The two were fortunately quick enough to avoid his opening blast without taking much damage, with the exception of Deku's poor costume, which was now missing half of its mask.

"A sneak attack, Bakugou?" A boy with spiky red hair complained. "That's so unmanly! A real man fights head on!" Sora frowned.

"I don't think anyone cares about what's manly or not." She said. "Besides, he's playing the villain. He's supposed to be doing the bad things. Not that he wouldn't if he was a hero." She said, mumbling that last part to herself. She didn't like Bakugou one bit, but she didn't need to emphasise that around everyone.

"Midori sure can dodge good!" Ashido added with some enthusiasm. Sora agreed. Izuku's speed in evading Bakugou's surprise attack was quite impressive. Even more impressive was his next move, countering a follow-up punch from Bakugou by grabbing his arm and throwing him onto the ground.

Sora knew he was strong, but she didn't know he was strong enough to make someone bounce off of concrete floors. Without even using his Quirk, by the look of it. It was awesome.

She had no idea what he was saying, but he seemed to be speaking very passionately to Bakugou, who reacted with even more fury than he usually had. That was already impressive.

"It's getting personal." She said quietly. Yaoyorozu nodded next to her, though her expression showed clear disapproval.

"Not exactly the best strategy." She replied. "Still, Midoriya seems to know what he's doing. I'm curious how things will unfold." Sora agreed, continuing to watch. Bakugou placed a hand to his ear and seemed to speak to someone – presumably Iida – briefly before returning his focus to the enemy.

"THEY'RE COMMUNICATING THROUGH MICROTRANSCEIVERS I GAVE THEM BEFORE THE MATCH BEGAN." All-Might explained when someone asked about it. He pulled out a small roll of tape and held it in front of the class. "I ALSO GAVE THEM THIS CAPTURE TAPE! WRAPPING IT AROUND YOUR OPPONENT SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT PROOF OF CAPTURE." Sora took note of that. There didn't seem to be much tape, so she didn't know how much exactly was needed to wrap around and count as a capture, but she was sure she would figure it out.

The fight continued. Deku and Bakugou were intently focused on one another, with Uraraka running off in the hopes of finding and securing the weapon. A solid enough plan given Bakugou's fixation on Deku, it seemed. All he really had to do was keep him busy so that Uraraka could take care of the weapon.

She looked over to the screen showing Iida in the weapon room. He was pacing around thoughtfully, no doubt strategizing and coming up with the best course of action. His helmet meant that she couldn't even guess as to what he was thinking. The room had seemingly been cleared out, now lacking any objects besides the bomb itself.

"Smart." She commented. "Uraraka's got no choice but to try and rush him at close range, and he has the advantage there with his speed and strong legs. That means Deku can't spend all his time dealing with Bakugou, or they'll never get close to the bomb."

"Unless Iida attacks first." Yaoyorozu said. "If he tries to press his advantage, there's a chance Uraraka could evade him and use the tape to trip him up or immobilise him. The current situation locks them into more of a stalemate." Sora considered her words carefully as she watched the room. Sure enough, Uraraka entered and thing unfolded just as Yaoyorozu had predicted.

Iida clearly didn't want to risk getting close to capture Uraraka, as that left him open to either her Quirk or the capture tape. Uraraka had nothing she could use as a weapon and knew that rushing him first was a bad idea. Something would need to change for either to progress, but Iida had the advantage in that he only needed to maintain this state for the remaining time.

The battle seemed like it would go slowly from there. Deku was keeping Bakugou on the move whilst not directly fighting him just yet. Both sides seemed to think their best plan was just to keep the opponent from acting until time ran out.

Or so Sora thought, until the entire building shook.

AN: And we're back! Been a little bit, it's nice to return to this story after taking a break for about a week. Originally, I wanted to get through the whole Deku vs Bakugou fight all at once, but the chapter was starting to look long, so I decided to split it and finish it off next time. I hope to see you all there!